Lorraine Hansberry’s “A Raisin In The Sun” and Alice Walker’s “Everyday Use” are both stories that are connected by the common factor of family values. Although both stories have their own individual qualities it is the heritage and importance of family that brings both stories together. The similar personalities of Beneatha from “A Raisin In The Sun” and Dee from “Everyday Use” are a good example of how family values dominate the stories and the characters in them. Both Beneatha and Dee come from families rich in culture, history and traditions but strive to find individuality outside of their family’s norms. However, it is the way in which they approach conformity that is a testament to how one should and shouldn’t go about this process. …show more content…
As she gains a college education and becomes indoctrinated by Asagai, she finds more gratitude toward her heritage and begins to view others with deeper gratitude. Her attitude towards the African American identity is in large part fashioned by Asagai's pressure to conform to his standard, but in the end it becomes more a part of her than it was at the beginning of the story. Yet, she never chastises her family despite the opportunity she has to fulfill her dreams. She is cognitive of the fact that regardless of where she is at in life, she can find solace at home and there are no terms and conditions attached to it. Even though her family may have different opinions on her lifestyle, she understands where their hearts are and learns to accept that, unlike Dee who can’t seem to see past the end of her own nose. Beneatha also understands that when surrounded by trouble her family will be there to help her endure through tough times. Michelle Gordon, when she discusses the importance of a black female’s strong bond with her family during the days of segregation mentions the Youngers, and most specifically Beneatha. Gordon, in regards to Beneatha’s character says that:
“Beneatha is a character many young African Americans living through the times of their culture’s liberation because she was by far the one that reached out from the story for being genuine and wanted others, including her family, to
As we see from her first entrance, Beneatha is a loud and outspoken character. She is a single young female living in a home with Ruth and Mama. Quite similar as characters, they share traditional values and believe women should care for the wellbeing of their family. Ruth and Mama take pride in doing domestic service work as their source of income and are continuously seen putting their children’s needs before theirs. Hansberry uses Beneatha’s character to contradict these values and introduce a character with modern feminist views. Beneatha fiercely fires back to anyone who questions her life goals. She is constantly found bickering with Walter about her dream of becoming a doctor. She is reminded by him that “girls” shouldn’t be doctors. Beneatha voices her feelings on male dependency when she mentions to Mama and Ruth “Listen, I’m going to be a doctor. I’m not worried about who I’m going to marry yet - if I ever get married”, and they respond with a shocked “if!”(50). The idea of a woman not wanting to get married was shocking to Mama and Ruth. Beneatha feels that she does not need to be dependent on a man; she has one goal, to become a doctor. She does not need a man in her life, she feels perfectly
In a modern society where good deeds and integrity are taken for granted, it is necessary for people to stand up for what is right. The short story “A & P”, written by John Updike, tells the story of Sammy and how he takes a stand for what he believes is right, only he is not given the gratitude he deserved. “Everyday Use”, written by Alice Walker, is another short story that shows how substantial it is to stand firm for one’s convictions and beliefs, especially in familial matters. Mama, the protagonist in “Everyday Use”, must make the decision of protecting her self-conscious daughter Maggie, or giving in to Dee, her other egocentric daughter who has forgotten the traditional values
Beneatha met two different guys in the story and these two gentlemen represent something and who she choose over. The first guy she met is a man name George Murchinson, he represent rich, spoil, and ungrateful to beneatha. The second guy she met is a man name Asagai and he represent culture, and a african heritage to his kind. The difference between these two guys is the one is rich and the other in college and being a doctor as well. Beneatha was talking to these to guys and didn’t know who to date until towards the end when Asagai told beneatha to marry him and going to africa. She considering going and why she choose to go is because when she is with Asagai she feels more happy. When she go on a date with George she don’t feel as happy when
Hansberry promotes a sense of African heritage through her character, Beneatha. She characterizes Beneatha as a college student struggling to find her identity, who tries to achieve such by getting in touch with her roots. The author expresses Beneatha’s struggle with the arguments between her and the rest of her family, namely her mother, Lena. Beneatha tries
She goes on dates with George but finds him boring and is offended that he finds her dreams of being a doctor stupid. She is a strong independent woman who is at the brink of being a full thrown feminist and is not at any time giving into the pressures of society to marry the richest man she can find. George is an African-American who shows no interest in his African roots, he does not like talking about Africa or talking to those who advocate it. George has completely assimilated into the American culture to gain the respect of the white people being one of the African-American families who cracked on the pressures of society assimilate. George’s wealth was not something that swayed Beneatha, his wealth sure could assist her in pursuing a medical career but she did not want to be tied by any boundaries. Asagai was different from George because he did not want to marry Beneatha to tie her down, he wants to marry her to set her free.
In A Raisin in the Sun, Beneatha is an African American woman in the 1950’s who is determined to put her education first and one day become a doctor. Ruth tries to convince Beneatha to marry George because he is a rich man; however, Beneatha responds that “[she’s] going to be a doctor. [She’s] not worried about who [she’s] going to marry yet-if [she] ever gets married” (Hansberry, 1959, p. 936). After this discussion, Beneatha’s discipline and mindset is revealed. Beneatha clearly shows that she is more committed to her education than any other aspect of her life.
George Murchison’s role in Beneatha’s life triggers societal expectations that are directly shown by her family, due to the fact that Murchison is a successful black man and he is respected in their community due to his wealth. Beneatha always feels
Beneatha is probably one of the most independent and individual characters in the play. She does not worry about the prejudice her community has about her. She is confident in herself, her abilities, and her intellect. She tries to be independent by not allowing anybody to help her. When she first hears about the insurance money she does not want any help from it. When Walter suggest that mama could use a little bit of the money to help Beneatha out with the cost of college, Beneatha responds by saying, “I have never asked anyone around here to do anything for me” ( Hansberry 281). Beneatha refuses help from others, because she feels that doing everything on her own will make her a stronger woman. She presumes that asking for assistance for anything in life will make her weaker. She does not understand how dependent she is on others until she starts dating George Murchison and joseph Asagai.
In a modern society where good deeds and integrity are taken for granted, it is necessary for people to stand up for what is right. The short story “A & P”, written by John Updike, tells the story of Sammy and how he takes a stand for what he believes is right, only he is not given the gratitude he deserved. “Everyday Use”, written by Alice Walker, is another short story that shows how substantial it is to stand firm for one’s convictions and beliefs, especially in familial matters. Mama, the protagonist in “Everyday Use”, must make the decision of protecting her self-conscious daughter Maggie, or giving in to Dee, her other egocentric daughter who has forgotten the traditional values of
Beneatha is a young college student, she is independent and in the play she provides a feminist stance by her desire to become a doctor. The reader notices that she searches for her identity. She dates two guys, Joseph and George. She is happier with Joseph, but she gets criticism from him because she does not want to marry him. Beneatha does not want to be dependent on anybody, which is contradicted by the fact she relies on insurance money from her father’s death and the investments made by her brother. She struggles to break free from this dependency and at the end of the play she represents a strong independent female. On the other side we have Lena, who is still a traditional woman with believes and provides a perspective from an older generation. In the movie I think Ruth is the more modern woman, because of the
The racism-steeped social system negatively affects African-American males and females, causing deeply rooted issues. The three women in the story, Beneatha, Ruth, and Mama, represent the different views Black women took during these troublesome times. There were women like Beneatha, who didn’t want to live the typical life of a wife and mother, and openly disapproved the assimilation of Blacks into American culture as well: “Because I hate assimilationist Negroes!” (Hansberry 1500). She wanted to become highly educated, and to change the world somehow. She wanted to be something. Beneatha is a very strong-willed, hard-headed character. This could very well have been caused by the unfair rules of her time constantly being reiterated to her through several mediums. Over and over again she is told that she must
Hansberry uses Beneatha and Walter Younger in a metaphorical message to display the feuds that they have as a lower class African American family. Hansberry uses Beneatha and Walter in an attempt to show the diversity in their household. Beneatha's clear superior intelligence level over Walter is a representation of the higher class African Americans looking over struggling lower economic African American class. The author understood that in this time of Civil Rights movements it was a constant battle not only between races but social classes as well. Within the African American race it was a constant struggle for serenity.
Family values are the context of Mama’s second nurturing lesson to Beneatha. After a conflictive encounter with her brother, Beneatha expresses a lack of respect and love for Walter. Lena Younger first quickly ensures that she correctly heard her daughter. Although Mama does not come across as gentle as she has in the past, her
Beneatha is an independent woman with great ambition. She always stands up for her beliefs and ideas no matter how contradict others. Beneatha is a fox, she is clever and, a quick thinker, she stays true to herself. When talking about her future Beneatha states, “Listen, I’m going to be a doctor. I’m not worried about who I’m going to marry yet--if I ever get married… I couldn’t be bothered with that. I am going to be a doctor, and everybody around here better understand that” (Hansberry, page 32). Beneatha is already sure of herself and what she wants to be in life. This encounter between her family is a defining moment for her character it shows how serious she is about her future. She also is not afraid to speak about her beliefs no matter the consequence. For example, ”God is just one idea I don’t accept. It’s not important. I am not going out and be immoral or commit crimes
Beneatha is obviously different, but it isn’t a bad thing, there's nothing wrong with being different, but there is something wrong with looking down n the people who sacrificed a lot the get you that far, but in her defense, I don’t know her story, I can only judge from what I read in the book, and also in her defense, I didn’t made it so far in the book, but I made it halfway through the movie. but there are just some things that just can't be justified, and those things that can be justified are rare, and only under special occasions, I wouldn’t even go so far as to say that killing can’t be justified, because it is, under special occassions, like with hitler, but I still believe his death was letting him off too easily, he deserved to sit in jail for a little while, and watch his army fall, crushing his enormous pride, and ego just in case there's not a place of totla damnation, called hell, but getting back on topic, Beneatha Is definitely